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Calling all Grill Masters

OK -all you back yard chefs. My wife just bought home a slab of baby back ribs. What's your favorite way to cook them? Today I will be limited to oven and gas grill but fel free to include charcol or smoker recipes as well.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

Are you cooking them today/tonight? Ribs really benefit from a good dry rub down and sitting in the fridge over night, so tomorrow would be ideal for cooking them. I would then recommend cooking them in the oven on the lowest setting your oven will go (probably 250) for about 4-6 hours. Then throw them on the grill to lock in the flavor and get some good grill char on them.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

I agree. Dry rub, stack 'em up and wrap them in plastic wrap over night.

If you have a smoker, I use apple wood for 5-6 hours at 225-235, with apple juice in the water pan. For the last hour, wrap them in aluminum foil with a drizzle of apple juice. I don't put sauce on them, just go with the rub. Creates a nice bark, lots of flavor from the rub. (don't have the rub recipe at work or I'd post it for you)

With your tools at hand, I would agree with the suggestion above. Low and slow in oven for 4-5 hours (I put a little water in the pan to keep them moist) then finish them on the grill with your favorite sauce, indirect heat.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

I smoke them with apple, hickory and pecan at 225 - 250 for three hours, spray with apple juice or pepsi about every half hour after the first hour of smoking. Then foil them up good and tight for another two hours and then unwrap and back on the grill for another hour. They will melt in your mouth.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

Originally Posted by roscoedog

I smoke them with apple, hickory and pecan at 225 - 250 for three hours, spray with apple juice or pepsi about every half hour after the first hour of smoking. Then foil them up good and tight for another two hours and then unwrap and back on the grill for another hour. They will melt in your mouth.

This! Only I do a dry rub on mine. The spray is a combination of Apple juice, my dry rub, a whole onion chopped and garlic. I let that simmer a bit while I'm getting the smoker ready. I strain and put it into a spray bottle. I then add the leftover apple juice from the jug to the pan with all the stuff that was just strained out and let that reduce down to the consistency of pancake syrup. Once it hits that, I add whole tomatoes (canned), tomato sauce, tomato paste and a little bit more rub. let that cook a while. Stick blender it to make it all nice and smooth and add some apple cider vinegar to thin out to the consistency of catsup. Serve that on the side. It's a great BBQ sauce. And since I've already put 4 hours of smoke on the meat, I really don't like the liquid smoke flavor that some BBQ sauces put in them. S

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

Heres how I do it: Let them sit in apple cider over night in the fridge. Pull them out of the cider a couple hours before cooking (save cider) and put a rub on them. I prefer a slightly spicy rub to offset the sweetness of the cider and sweet BBQ sauce I use. After the rub has been on an hour or two throw them on a hot grill for about five minutes, meat side down, just long enough to brown them. Put the cider and ribs in a pan, I use a disposable aluminum pan similar to a trukey pan that has a sealable lid (very important to seal the pan, the steam from the cider makes the ribs very tender), cider should go about half way up the ribs. I usually add sweet onions as well, but you don't have to. Cook them on a low heat for 3-6 hours. It's preferable to use the lowest heat, 250 or so, for the longest time, 6 hours or more, but you can go 300 for 3 hours and it will still tast good. Ribs are done when the meat pulls back from the bone by about an inch, you can also use a meat thermometer to check. Take them out of the pan and return them to the grill for another five minutes or so to crisp them up a bit. The last step is totally optional, I apply BBQ sauce to the ribs and let them cook on the grill for another 5-10 minutes.

BBQ purists probably will cringe at this method, but I'v had pretty good results with it. There are never leftovers.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

A little preparation ahead of time results in flavor-packed ribs that don't dry out on the grill.

For every two racks of ribs, brine them in about a gallon of water with a half cup of salt and a half cup of sugar in it. Pull them out after an hour, pat them dry, apply your favorite rub, wrap them, and refrigerate for at least several hours or overnight if possible.

Grill them on indirect heat for a couple of hours. With the brine method, they stay moist without having to mess with things like foil or cider pans on the grill.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

Originally Posted by bostinelosd

I brined my turkey one year and it cooked a heck of alot faster on the outside. Do ribs get affected like that?

I have not had any problems with the brine method. The key is to use a weak brine solution and don't leave the ribs in too long so that they don't end up soaking up too much of the brine. If anything , the cooking appears to be more even. A nice rub crust on the outside with flavor that penetrates all the way through the meat.

Re: Calling all Grill Masters

My parents like to boil their ribs in beer before throwing them on the grill and lathering in sauce. I have no complaints about this method...

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